History Main / TheHopelessReplacement

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/{{Kirk}}'': The bowling team is in the finals, but their best bowler just threw her back out. In comes Kirk's main squeeze, who stinks...until she's given some reverse psychology by Kirk, and pulls out the victory for their team.

* ''GetReadyToBeBoyzvoiced'': The boy band's frontman falls ill just before Boyzvoice are due to play at the Hit Awards, and is replaced at the last minute with an obsessive basement-dwelling fanboy who won a contest to hang out backstage with his favourite band. Despite a mimed performance with a stand-in for the group's most popular member, their Hit Award appearance cements their position as a Europop sensation and catapults them to fame and fortune.

* ''GetReadyToBeBoyzvoiced'': The boy band's frontman falls ill just before Boyzvoice are due to play at the Hit Awards, and is replaced at the last minute with an obsessive basement-dwelling fanboy who won a contest to hang out backstage with his favourite band. Despite a mimed performance with a stand-in for the group's most popular member, their Hit Award appearance cements their position as a europop sensation and catapults them to fame and fortune.

-->--'''The Spy''', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''

* In ''Film/ShaolinSoccer'', the villainous soccer team named...wait for it...[[CardCarryingVillain '''Team Evil''']] have used their doping-enhanced strength to injure several of the players on the good-guys team - the game's nearly over, but they're short one goalie, and they have to forfeit if they can't find a replacement. Cue the hero's love-interest entering to demonstrate that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours her Kung Fu is stronger]], and win them the match.

* In ''Film/ShaolinSoccer'', the villainous soccer team named...wait for it...'''Team Evil''' have used their doping-enhanced strength to injure several of the players on the good-guys team - the game's nearly over, but they're short one goalie, and they have to forfeit if they can't find a replacement. Cue the hero's love-interest entering to demonstrate that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours her Kung Fu is stronger]], and win them the match.

* A good decade or two before that, guess who did something similar in a short in the ''[[{{Peanuts}} The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show]]''.

* Sid Vicious was a hopeless replacement for Glen Matlock, the original bass player for TheSexPistols.

* ''An Extremely Goofy Movie:'' In the final race, the Gammas succeed in launching PJ out of the arena, forcing Max to call on Goofy to replace him so that they don't forfeit.

* In ''ShaolinSoccer'', the villainous soccer team named...wait for it...'''Team Evil''' have used their doping-enhanced strength to injure several of the players on the good-guys team - the game's nearly over, but they're short one goalie, and they have to forfeit if they can't find a replacement. Cue the hero's love-interest entering to demonstrate that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours her Kung Fu is stronger]], and win them the match.

* After the death of BruceLee, many actors with similar physical appearances or names popped up in hopes of becoming "The Next Dragon." JackieChan was the most popular, due to his movies' content having nothing to do with Bruce Lee, but many at the time still considered him a hopeless replacement. It took some time before he was able to make those movies; that his earliest leading roles in China ''were'' direct attempts to make a formulaic "Bruce Lee movie", and that he ''was'' unable to duplicate the actor's intensity and (in-character) fury had a lot to do with it.

* This was subverted in an episode of ''Film/{{Clueless}}'', during a big school basketball game when the star player is out. Friends Sean and Murray fill in as replacements, and happen to be really good and beat the other team.
* In ''HollysHeroes'', being short a player forced Holly to field the team's statistician on the basketball court, only for her to turn out to be a brilliant goal shooter (but terrible at the rest of the game). She was used a regular player for the rest of the series.
* ''{{Kirk}}'': The bowling team is in the finals, but their best bowler just threw her back out. In comes Kirk's main squeeze, who stinks...until she's given some reverse psychology by Kirk, and pulls out the victory for their team.

* In ''{{Glee}}'', [[TheDitz Brittany]], of all people, is bribed into joining the [=McKinley=] academic decathlon team as an emergency replacement. As it turns out, she knows a ''lot'' about cat diseases, winning them the semi-finals almost singlehandedly.

* In the baseball episode of ''SamuraiChamploo'', all the members of the team quit before the big game against the Americans, so the ninja coach recruits the main characters. Mugen and Jin are the only useful ones however, as the other players are Fuu, an old man, a dog, and Fuu's [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter pet flying squirrel.]]

* Subverted in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'': after Akane injures herself on the night before the [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics]] tournament, she despairs at the thought of finding someone who "...[[SupernaturalMartialArts is good at martial arts]], [[SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat knows gymnastics]], and [[MsFanservice looks good in a leotard]]" in such short notice. Everyone immediately shanghais [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours Ranma]] into service.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* After the death of BruceLee, many actors with similar physical appearances or names popped up in hopes of becoming "The Next Dragon." JackieChan was the most popular, due to his movies' content having nothing to do with Bruce Lee, but many at the time still considered him a hopeless replacement.
** It took some time before he was able to make those movies; that his earliest leading roles in China ''were'' direct attempts to make a formulaic "Bruce Lee movie", and that he ''was'' unable to duplicate the actor's intensity and (in-character) fury had a lot to do with it.
* Happens often in team sports. Brutal in international tournaments, where a country might only have one or two capable players in an important role. Comes into play in soccer games: if the goalkeeper is sent off and there are no others available, an outfield player will be moved back. If the player actually ''succeeds'' in the position, fans will invariably remember it as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
* Sid Vicious was a hopeless replacement for Glen Matlock, the original bass player for TheSexPistols.

[[/folder]]

Cue panic as the group scrambles to find a replacement (and this trope usually has a scene where the group is calling someone with a last name beginning with the letter Z). Down to their last hope, they bring in the love interest of one of the team members. She's the savior of their group...except she stinks...can't score to save her life, can't sing, can barely play tambourine. However, thanks to her [[DungeonmastersGirlfriend romantic arrangements]] and/or the fact that the team forfeits if they do, she can't be kicked out of the group.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra first joins the Fire Ferrets when their third member fails to show up and they have two minutes to come up with a replacement. Unfortunately, she has no idea of the rules of pro-bending and quickly commits multiple fouls. Even when settling for just not getting knocked out, she still has trouble until her airbending training kicks in and allows her to dodge long enough for her teammates to win it. By the next match she actually knows what she's doing and becomes a competent teammate.

* On ''FamilyTies'', Alex needs a third for a quiz bowl team, and is forced to use Mallory. He coaches her extensively and she ends up being the star of the team after Alex suffers stage fright.